It probably doesn’t take hurricane-force size wind to knock down a mall. And given that Irene is 500 miles wide, I imagine it could do some damage to structures 140 miles inland.
Don't discount the NYC bedbug problems.
No, but when Irene came through here in North Carolina yesterday, there were 40+ mph wind gusts here in Durham and we’re close to 200 miles from the storm track. The entire eastern third of the state was under tropical storm conditions for almost the entire day. Irene is not an exceptional hurricane for sheer strength, but she’s one big mama.
It’s easy to pooh-pooh Irene because the MSM is making it sound like Katrina II: Electric Boogaloo. It’s not. But today in NYC and on Long Island is probably going to suck pretty hard, unless you like being in the middle of a tropical storm and having low-lying areas flooded. It’s carrying the storm surge of a stronger hurricane due to its immense size, and dropped over 17” of rain in eastern NC yesterday.
}:-)4